Time parents set a good example and help wean children off mobile phones - Sarah Todd

She says starting secondary school would have been so much easier if her mother hadn’t been so mean; leaving her out on a limb while the other children swapped Snapchat and Instagram details.

That makes this rotten reporter feel awful but, on reflection, it didn’t do her any real harm. Figures from Ofcom show nearly all (98 per cent back in 2022 so will doubtless be more now) 13 to 15-year-olds having their own phone, with most getting them as young as between the ages of nine and 11.

What was - and remains - worrying is society’s inability to say no to children. Time and again parents caught up in one-upping each other create division. Faced with everything from latest model mobile phones to trainers that cost the price of a luxury minibreak, having the backbone to plough one’s own furrow is no easy option. Especially now, at Christmas time.

Schools should be a level playing field, not yet another example of conspicuous consumerism. There is, to use a young person’s phrase, something ‘ick about a world which puts those who have expensive possessions on a pedestal.

Whatever happened to a school kid just being an alright person; defined by traditional sub-categories such as brainy, funny, naughty and so-on. Before this festive season’s turkey has even been carved and some little angels will be posting their present hauls online. How can their parents let them do this? Not having a thought for those without such gifts is just Vulgar, with a deliberate capital V.

Did you know girls under the age of ten are now obsessing about face creams and preventing wrinkles? Lads are locking themselves in bathrooms shaving off the first signs of chest hair because nobody in the public eye has so much as a single bodily hair.

Surely those in authority such as teachers should be leading by example and telling today’s youngsters that there is nothing more attractive than being themselves.

So, good on Australia. Mobile phones have already been banned in the country’s state schools. Prime Minister Albanese believes his laws will mitigate the harm social media is inflicting on children, saying “this one is for the mum and dads…I want Australian families to know that the government has your back.” Imagine Sir Keir Starmer saying something so strong and sensible?

He’s right. As your correspondent can testify, it’s all well and good doing what we believe to be right but it’s no easy option in a society that sneers.

Of course, people use the old line about safety and keeping in touch. If that’s the case give children a device with no internet access just for making phone calls. The Daughter used to say, “everybody has them for in case they miss the bus”.

Well, she was told, go back inside the school and ask to use the telephone. If some po-faced school secretary refuses to help they should be sacked.

When we were young popular kids were often the class clown, or those who were good at sport. Now it all seems to be down to how many ‘likes’ they get on their social media posts.

Life isn’t a reality television show. It’s hard and when there are bumps in the road it’s important to have proper friends rather than strangers who sometimes click the heart button on their photos. This is such an important message and surely a reason why, when things go wrong nowadays, young people so often spiral into mental health problems. They should be out playing sports, watching telly, hanging around street corners on bikes.

Modern day romances can be an eye-opener in our Love Island times. Many observed at second hand can seem to be all about the perfect Instagram photo. Rather than treating their girlfriends as precious jewels like their grandfathers would have done, many lads seem unable to help themselves from liking and commenting on other girls’ photos. Surely this must be hard mentally for the one on their arm. What do us middle-aged women know; maybe modern girls give the guys as much online runaround back?

Child rights advocacy groups believe bans like the one Australia is proposing only delay young people’s inevitable exposure to social media. Far better, they say, to teach them how to navigate the risks. Also, what’s the point when parents won’t police such a ban.

The bottom line is that they should step up to the plate because they are supposed to be the grown-ups. Perhaps if parents of young children stopped gawping at their own phones for five minutes?

Finally, cast your mind back to a time when restless toddlers would have been bounced on a knee or given a spoon in a restaurant to bang on the table. It is our country’s shame that so often they are left strapped in their prams - isolated from interaction with other human beings - with a phone or tablet thrust into their little hands. Our resolution, as a nation, should be to pull our socks up.

Sarah Todd is a journalist specialising in country life. Read her weekly column in Wednesday’s edition of The Yorkshire Post.